"More like a big expansion back to AC2 but still quite good (Campaign Review Only)"

Assassin's Creed 2 was an amazing follow up to Assassin's Creed. It moved the story from Altair in the Holy Land Crusades to Ezio Auditore in Renaissance Italy, and advanced the plot of the Templars and Assassins in both the past and the present. It had a mind-blowing ending that left us waiting for more...but does AC:Brotherhood deliver?

STORY 7/10One reason I say that AC:Brotherhood is more like an expansion pack is that it does not advance the overall story of the series much. It has the same setting, many of the same characters, and the story is an add-on covering the events in Ezio's life directly after AC2. There are some good twists at the end, but that's it really. I won't spoil anything for either game, but let's just say the huge new plot thread introduced in AC2's finale is mostly ignored in AC:Brotherhood. Perhaps they are saving it for AC3, but I'd prefer it if they moved the plot faster instead of stretching it out to make more games. Also, I swear I heard before the release that this game would have Desmond playing a much larger role, with more sections of the game taking place in the present. I was really looking forward to this...but it turns out that it is not true. Even the seemingly much more powerful Templars don't make much of an appearance here, with the focus instead on Ezio's personal vendetta against Cesare Borgia. There's no conspiracy to unravel here really, just a struggle for Rome. It's really cool and a lot of fun, but doesn't advance the story, which I feel is a crucial aspect in plot-based games like Assassin's Creed.

GRAPHICS 9/10Not the best I've ever seen in a game, but really good. Rome looks and feels alive, and the characters are all modeled quite well. No complaints here, it's a beautiful game.

SOUND 9/10Good voice acting and music that fits the game well. Once again, no complaints.

GAMEPLAY 8/10Same as AC2 really, which isn't a bad thing. The Borgia Towers are a fun new addition, however the recruiting assassins leads much to be desired. I thought your new recruits would be real characters in the game (Mass Effect 2 comes to mind), but they are just faceless names. You can summon them to aid you in combat or send them on missions throughout Europe to level them up, but they have no importance in the story whatsoever. I also would have liked a leveling system for them more detailed than just Weapons and Armor. Why not choose between stealthy silent killers who are weaker in direct confrontations and tanks who lack subtlety, ranged attackers or up close and personal assailants? Things like this could have made the system much deeper. The missions are still a lot of fun, and late in the game you get some pretty cool items to have fun with, but overall it's just more of AC2.

"I THINK WE CAN AGREE, THE PAST IS OVER"AC2 really concluded Ezio's story well, the only reason AC:Brotherhood returns to it is so the modern day Assassins can find one particular piece of information. While this was the case in the games as well, the information you are looking for in AC:Brotherhood isn't as exciting and it doesn't add much to the overall story. At the end you're still as in the dark as you were at the end of AC2. I'd really like to see the plot, particularly the present, advance much more in the next installment. I'm getting tired of each game moving the present plot thread like10 minutes. They said this would be the conclusion of Desmond's story...yeah right.